Highways and other paved or concrete roadways can be damaged by water or other accumulated liquids under the roadway. The formation of bumps or frost heaves begins as water seeps under the roadway. As the water freezes and expands in cold weather, the resultant ice pushes up the roadway and forms bumps in the road. These road bumps require considerable cost and time to cut out the damaged areas and repave or reapply concrete. Further, such roadway repairs require additional costs in closing down traffic and providing traffic control.
Haas U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,024, Feb. 28, 1989, provides a method for installing a pavement underdrain wherein underdrains in the form of perforate pipes, preferably covered with a geotextile sock as a filter, are disposed transversely to the lengthwise direction of the roadway in close proximity to faults, cracks, joints and other fissures in the roadway. The underdrains conduct water away from such fissures thereby preventing roadbed particulate material from being pumped upwardly through the fissures together with water which collects below the concrete roadway. However, these underdrains have a relatively limited life in the field, such as 5 years or so, due to the tendency for the filter fabric to become clogged. The present invention provides a wick drain having a much greater useful life, as well as a method for installing such a wick drain in situations where open cutting or trenching is impractical.